Confidentiality & Medical Records
The practice complies with data protection and access to medical records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:
- To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.
- To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.
- When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.
If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.
Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.
Please see the GDPR.
Freedom of Information
Information about the General Practitioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager.
FOI leaflet (DOCX, 98KB)
FOI Publication scheme guidance (DOCX, 48KB)
Access to Records
In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.
Complaints
If you wish to complain about any aspect of the service you have received please ask for the Practice Manager. If the Practice Manager is unavailable our Office Manager will be happy to help.
The practice fully complies with NHS complaints procedure and your comments are always welcome. Anyone wishing to make a complaint has the choice to make the complaint to either the practice or NHS England. If you remain dissatisfied with the practice response to your complaint you should contact the Health Service Ombudsman. You can contact the Health Service Ombudsman by telephone (0345 015 4033), in writing (The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP) or by email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk or fax (0300 061 4000). For more information, visit their website www.ombudsman.org.uk.
If you need any help and advice you can also contact NHS England on 0300 311 22 33 or on their website www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/complaint.
Complaints Procedure (DOCX, 18KB)
Practice Complaint Policy Leaflet (DOCX, 115KB)
Practice Complaint Policy (DOC, 36KB)
Listening, responding and improving (DOCX, 181KB)
Violence Policy
The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons. Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.